Jay
by alfyiskingly
Summary: A fanfic about two siblings that find themselves in the middle of an Avengers mission. [Y/N] means "your name" or you can substitute it with an original character.
1. Chapter 1

[Y/N] sat in the cool grass and scribbled in her journal. The morning sun danced through the leaves, shining down and warming her face. She picked up the small plant she had in her lap, turning it over in her hands before setting it down gently. She drew the plant with immense detail before taking brief notes on its physical appearance.

"Come on, you should know peppermint when you see it by now."

"I thought you were going hiking this morning," [Y/N] retorted. Her older brother rounded the tent and tossed his pack on the ground, taking a swig from his water bottle. "Plus, I _know_ this is peppermint, I'm just practicing documentation."

"Sure you are, kid," Jay laughed, patting his little sister on the head as he passed by.

"What happened to your hike?" [Y/N] asked as she pressed the small sprig of peppermint between the pages and shut her journal.

Jay shrugged, "I just didn't feel up to it."

[Y/N] raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Carter Jay Moses, you know that I'm not that dumb."

"What?" [Y/N] kept her arms crossed, giving him a warning look. "Fine, you caught me. I just couldn't leave my baby sister up here all by herself." Jay smiled innocently.

"Jay," [Y/N] huffed, still not buying his gimmick.

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Look, when I was walking out by the trail, I heard some people. They were yelling and possibly fighting, so I figured I would come back here and hang out till noon. Maybe they'll clear out by then."

"Jay, that's serious! Don't you think we should leave?"

Jay shifted his weight, and toyed with the bottle in his hands. It wasn't until now that [Y/N] saw how uncomfortable he looked. His eyes kept scanning the trees, making [Y/N] worry even more.

"Jay," [Y/N] dropped her voice to a whisper. "Is there a reason we haven't left yet?"

The only response she got was a nod as her brother continued to eye the surrounding foliage. [Y/N] carefully got into a crouch and moved over to where Jay was. She sat on the log next to him but faced the opposite direction, keeping a watch where he couldn't. She'd learned this from her father, an avid hiker and camper. He said to never leave your back exposed if you felt like you were being stalked by an animal, and that's exactly how [Y/N] felt all of a sudden.

"I heard them talking about scouring the area for 'survivors,'" Jay whispered. His voice was strained.

"Why didn't you tell me this when you walked up?" [Y/N] scolded quietly, loathing Jay's happy-go-lucky attitude toward danger.

"I didn't wanna worry you," he admitted softly. [Y/N] didn't respond.

Minutes passed and the two hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary. [Y/N] was beginning to wonder if they should make a run for it.

As if he'd read her mind, Jay whispered, "I don't know if we should run. Maybe we can just hike out of here. I mean, they said they were looking for survivors. That's good, right?"

"Not if they don't want survivors," [Y/N] whispered harshly. She was rigid and her jaw hurt from how hard she'd been clenching her teeth.

Jay slowly rose, staying slightly crouched as he moved to the tent. [Y/N] could hear him rummaging around but didn't want to turn and leave their backs exposed. Her father's words of warning floated around in her head, keeping her seated.

Suddenly, a voice in the distance broke the quiet atmosphere, startling the siblings. "I found two more!"

In unison, [Y/N] and Jay glanced at each other and began running in the opposite direction of the voice. [Y/N] noticed that Jay had his pack and her first thought was to chastise him for it. It would only make it harder for him to maneuver through the trees while running, therefore making him an easier target, right?

A round of gunshots rang out behind the two. [Y/N] threw her hand over her mouth to stifle her own scream. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her lungs heaving as adrenaline coursed through her. She glanced at Jay and saw him inching closer to her as they ran. What was he doing?

As soon as the first round was over, more gunshots filled the air. [Y/N] had heard plenty of camping horror stories, but she never imagined that she would be living one. Bullets pierced the trees around her, whizzing by her head, making her cringe in fear.

[Y/N], despite her best judgment, stole a glance over her shoulder and saw three figures tearing through the trees after them. Panic rose in her chest as she noticed three guns aimed right at them. Just as a shot rang from one of the guns, [Y/N] felt Jay's arms pulling her down. She was dazed, but knew better than to try and fight him.

Their bodies slid in the rough dirt, Jay's arms tightening around [Y/N] as she covered her face. She trusted her brother enough to know that he wouldn't let her get killed out here. Whatever his plan was, it had to be better than running directly in front of the crazy gunmen. She could feel the rocks and roots scraping her bare legs as they slid, but she bit her lip and sucked it up. Any scrape, bruise or cut had to be better than a bullet to the head.

"Look! We're about to jump!" Jay shouted, still holding his sister close. [Y/N] lifted her upper body and saw that they were sliding down a hill, fast approaching a huge cliff. She searched desperately for what he was planning to jump onto or grab, but there was nothing; only an empty space where the ground cut off. His right arm tightened around her while he stuck his left arm out in front of him. [Y/N] wrapped her arms around his torso, her mind racing for an answer.

"Jay, what are you doing?!"

Just as the two were supposed to drop off the cliff, [Y/N] felt her body jerk and swing back in a circle. Jay had caught a large root in his hand and was struggling to hold onto it, pulling the two of them away from the cliff's edge quickly.

[Y/N] heard the men that had been chasing after them speaking. They sounded like they were close to the top of the hill, meaning they possibly believed Jay, thinking the two had jumped off the cliff. [Y/N] clung to Jay as her legs dangled over the edge and she could see her brother's veins in his arm and neck as he tried to keep them still. She wanted to help, but she knew that if she tried pulling herself back onto the hill that it would make too much noise.

[Y/N] listened for the men, waiting for the voices to fade into the distance. Jay was gritting his teeth and she knew he was hurting himself trying to hold them both up. "C'mon, just leave already," she breathed, gripping Jay's right arm. She was looking around for something else to latch onto instead of her brother, knowing that his muscles must be on fire trying to support his own weight plus her own.

"Hold on guys, it'll be okay, just hold on."

[Y/N] and Jay both jerked their heads up to where this new voice was coming from. At first [Y/N] couldn't see anyone, but as she squinted and searched she found a young woman perched on a limb above them. The woman gave them a reassuring smile before slowly turning her head back to where the strange men stood. [Y/N] wanted to trust this woman but a sick feeling sat in her stomach. She felt nauseous and dizzy, her mouth felt dry and her legs were aching. She just wanted to be home.

"Cap, get these guys out of here, _now_." The woman was quiet when she spoke, but her voice was still intimidating. [Y/N] lifted her head to look at the woman again, but she was gone without a sound. What was happening?

Before [Y/N] had time to even blink again, she felt a new set of arms around her waist. They were stronger than Jay's and much bigger. Her head spun around to see that there was another man lifting Jay. The immediate thing that stood out about them was that the one holding her was wearing some kind of blue mask/helmet and the one holding Jay had a shiny left hand. The two new strangers took off along the cliff side, carrying the siblings to who-knew-where. [Y/N] covered her face as the wind stung her cheeks. They were going much faster than she could ever imagine running and it only made her feel more nauseous.

In the distance behind them, a few more gunshots could be heard before screaming and a loud explosion. Over the man's shoulder [Y/N] could see a cloud of black smoke rise up in the trees. It was the last thing she saw before she passed out in this stranger's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

"No she's my sist...arter Jay Moses. Her name is...oses...no, we always go hikin...this isn't new for us..."

[Y/N] could hear Jay's voice moving in and out of her head. She wasn't sure where he was or who he was talking to, but she knew he was near. As she came-to, she could tell that she was laying on something soft and comfortable. However, that didn't make her feel much better about the situation.

"My name is Steve Rog...ucky Barnes...Nat...omanoff..."

[Y/N] felt annoyed that she couldn't seem to hear full sentences. Her head hurt, but she didn't feel too out of it. She made a quick attempt to roll onto her side only to feel a dozen sharp pains in her legs.

"Who were those men out ther...why were they shooting at us?"

As her eyes fluttered open and a soft groan escaped her, [Y/N] was able to understand more of the conversation. She spotted a group of people sitting around a fireplace not far from where she was laying. She groaned again and heard Jay respond first.

"She's waking up!"

[Y/N] managed a small smile as her brother rushed to her side, kneeling beside where she lay. "Carter Jay, I don't think I've ever seen you so concerned," she whispered, her voice raspy.

"Do you guys have any water?" Jay's eyebrows seemed to be permanently furrowed in a hard line, his jaw still clenched like before.

[Y/N] reached out and patted his arm lovingly, giving him another little smile. "Don't be so upset, Jay," she croaked. She almost missed his annoying happy I-tell-puns-for-fun mood.

"I'm just so glad you're okay," he said, dismay in his voice. He carefully moved the odd strands of hair from her face and pressed his lips to her hairline.

"You're lucky to have a brother like him," a voice that [Y/N] hadn't heard yet chimed in. She turned her head to see who all the people were that surrounded the couch she was on.

"[Y/N], I know you must be very confused," a big, blonde man said. [Y/N] squinted at him and thought he was vaguely familiar. To his immediate left was a man that was familiar; the man with the shiny hand. On the blonde's right was the red-headed woman from the tree. Standing beyond those three was a group that [Y/N] had never seen before.

"I'm Steve," the blonde said. His voice was as strong as he looked. [Y/N] couldn't help but note that he was definitely Jay's type.

"I'm Natasha," the red-headed woman said, her voice much nicer now that she wasn't barking orders from a tree.

"This is Bucky," Steve continued, gesturing toward the shiny-handed man. "Behind me are Sam, Clint, Thor, Bruce, Wanda and T'Challa." As he introduced everyone, they each gave little waves or smiles to [Y/N].

"And I'm Tony." The voice came from the other end of the couch and caught [Y/N] by surprise. She turned and saw the ever-famous Tony Stark of Stark industries standing at the end of the couch, fiddling with his watch. He had a serious look on his face as he tapped the face of the watch, cocking his head as if something were wrong with it.

"That's...that's Tony...like..the Tony?" [Y/N]'s eyes widened as she turned to Jay and he smiled in response.

"Yeah, the one dad always talks about."

"I'm actually the leader of this rag-tag group here," Tony remarked, finally looking up from his watch. "We're the Avengers."

"How have you heard of Tony but not the Avengers?" The question came from someone in the group behind Steve, but [Y/N] didn't know who had asked.

"Our dad always talks about Tony. We don't actually know much except that he's super important," Jay said with an airy laugh. It wasn't meant to offend, [Y/N] knew that. But she also knew that it probably would. She'd listened to her dad's ramblings more often than Jay did and she knew that this Tony fellow was pretty snarky himself.

"So, you're the Avengers?" [Y/N] questioned, attempting to sit up. Jay helped her, putting one hand on her back and another taking her arm for support. "What do you guys do? It seems weird that someone as high brow as you would be leading a group of glorified park rangers."

Tony's hand flew up to his chest and he gave a dramatic gasp. "Hurtful."

"We aren't park rangers," Steve chimed in gently, moving into [Y/N]'s line of sight. "We're heros. We were only out here because...well, something bad was happening, but I'm sure you got that. We're here to help civilians like you make it out of these situations."

"Civilians," [Y/N] repeated quietly, a thoughtful look on her face. "So you're all military?"

This got a laugh from the guy Steve had introduced as Sam. "You could say that. We still don't exactly work under the government-" Tony coughed loudly and unconvincingly "-but we do try to help whoever we can. In this case, it was you two."

"What happened out there?" Jay finally spoke up. It wasn't like Jay to just stand by and listen to a conversation from the outside. He was always right in the center of attention if he could be.

By now, [Y/N] had slowly gotten her feet on the floor and was sitting up on her own. Her legs still felt like hell, and as she looked down she could see why. They were covered in scrapes and cuts, some looking a lot worse than others. They appeared to have been cleaned, but they weren't bandaged.

"Where are you kids from?" Steve moved around the couch to take a seat, gesturing for Jay to sit down as well.

"Louisiana," Jay answered, sitting himself between [Y/N] and Steve.

"Long way from home being all the way in Colorado," the other blonde from the group joined in. [Y/N] thought for a moment, trying to remember what Steve had called this guy.

"Like I said earlier, we camp a lot. Normally our dad would come with us, but sometimes we like to go out on our own. Been doing it since we were kids." Jay seemed so cool and collected around all these strangers that had claimed to be heros. [Y/N] still wasn't sure that she trusted them. "Now, is anyone gonna answer my question?"

"Look," Tony started, sounding a little annoyed. "There's a lot going on that we can't just tell you, alright? You're civilians. It's safer that you don't know."

"But," Steve cut in. "We can tell you that you aren't safe here. It's probably obvious, considering how we found you two. And I think that they deserve an explanation on what's about to happen," Steve's voice was suddenly stern as he turned to Tony.

Tony sighed and dropped his head into his hand. "Fine, tell them about how they're mutants now. Whatever."

Jay's eyebrows furrowed and [Y/N] scoffed. She finally spoke up, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Mutants? Okay, this is definitely some kind of dumb ass television show. Where are the cameras? Which one of you is the director? I quit. I want out. You don't have my consent for this."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, sweet cheeks, but this isn't some fake out prank show. This is real." Tony's serious gaze made [Y/N] shrink back and Jay put a protective arm around her shoulders.

"I'm assuming the two of you were asleep at around 3:56 AM," Steve said gently. [Y/N] wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but she and Jay nodded in unison. "At around that time, those men that were shooting at you had released a toxin into the air. It's not a normal toxin. It's one that alters the host that breathes it in. And it's a fast acting toxin. They let it loose at 4 and it's out of the air at 5, only affecting whatever inhaled it."

"That's why they said survivors," Jay thought aloud, staring hard at the floor as he took in this new information.

A shorter man came forward from the group. "To make it simple, it's a highly unstable sleeping gas that has properties which can mold itself to host DNA and make...changes. The two of you are the only humans we've found that could possibly have been affected by it." [Y/N] remembered him being introduced as Bruce as he seemed shy yet comfortable at the same time. Bruce seemed like a fitting name for him.

Jay looked at [Y/N] and then back at the group. He ruffled his hair nervously before standing up and sighing deeply. "So what do we do? If I'm understanding this right, I don't guess that we can just go home and everything be normal." Everyone seemed to nod sadly. "So, now what?"

"Our immediate plan was to just keep you in this cabin while we get this sorted out," Bruce admitted.

"We still need to find out if you two were changed by the gas," Natasha cut in harshly. Her brow had been set in a perma-furrow for most of the conversation, [Y/N] had noticed.

"Do you two feel any different?" Steve's ever gentle voice dominated the conversation easily.

Jay began patting various places on his body. "I feel normal," he shrugged.

"Well, that's interesting because you were just holding up your own weight plus her's not that long ago," Bruce mentioned, gesturing to Jay's arm. Everyone followed his gaze back to Jay and he froze for a moment.

"I mean, I..." Jay stuttered, stretching his arm out and feeling the muscles. "I don't feel anything...I'm not sore or anything." His eyes widened at this discovery and within seconds Bruce and Tony were at his side, inspecting him and talking amongst themselves. At this point, the group of strangers broke up and began wandering the house, each looking to have some kind of job to do.

Natasha took the seat next to [Y/N] and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How do you feel?" she asked gently.

"I don't feel bad, but I don't feel good either," [Y/N] sighed. "I just feel confused."

"That's normal," Steve chimed in. "There aren't many people that wouldn't be confused in a situation like this."

"Am I going to die?" The question must have caught the two off guard because Natasha spun her head around to Steve as if to get the right answer.

"We aren't sure yet," Steve admitted. [Y/N] lowered her eyes. "But we're doing everything that we can to make sure that you don't," he said, trying to be reassuring.

"[Y/N], may I speak with you for a moment?" [Y/N] looked up to see Bruce smiling gently at her, standing off to the side. She stood up hesitantly and moved over to the dining room area where Bruce was standing. "Have a seat, I only have a few questions for you," he said quickly, his voice kind but serious.

As [Y/N] pulled a chair from the table and sat, Bruce pulled out a pair of glasses and a small tablet. He began tapping away at the screen, his face stuck in a somber expression. [Y/N] glanced to Jay, who was still talking with Tony. He seemed to be a little excited that he would be developing powers. [Y/N] wished she could be happy with him, but there was still a rock in her stomach and a bad feeling in the back of her mind.

"Have you ever broken a bone?" The question shook [Y/N] out of her thoughts and she quickly shook her head. "Never? Interesting. Do you have any pets? A cat maybe?"

"No.." [Y/N] drug the answer out, narrowing her eyes.

"How many of those cuts did you acquire in the past 24 hours?"

"All of them.."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," [Y/N] replied with a little aggravation in her voice.

"Take a look at them again. Notice anything?" She looked down at her legs and only saw that there were cuts and scrapes that shouldn't be there. She shook her head and looked back to the man in front of her. He smiled gently and touched one of the cuts. "They're healing quickly, [Y/N]. This is how a cut would look two days after the fact. Some of the smaller ones are almost gone. It looks like the toxin took effect after all."


End file.
